Laminates V Plain Sailcloth

[Escapeii]

I'm in the market for a new genoa.
I have been quoted by one company for a regular cross-cut made of a Bainbridge Dacron and a tri-radial made from a Bainbridge laminate.
The tri-radial will cost roughly 30% more.
Is the tri-radial laminate worth the extra? Using it on our 37' steel ketch will we notice the difference?

Cheers

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[Neraida]

What about radial cut polypreg or something similar? I'd think (tho its only an opinion) that unless you are racing, and the extra 0.1-0.5 knot performance is an issue, i'd stay with the woven cloth. Also, for the size of your boat, you're gonna need a pretty heavy cloth, which in turn means that a laminate will need replacing more often.

We are in the process of getting a whole new set of rags, so have gone into this in some depth.

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[david_e]

Wouldnt have thought it would make 30% worth of difference on your type of boat.

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[bedouin]

I think a lot depends on how often you expect to change your dacron sails. From what I here laminate sails are slightly better, and keep their shape better, than dacron, but they have a life of about 5 years on a cruising boat. Dacron sails degrade slowly, but in a cruising boat can last 10 years or more.

When that is taken into account the laminates look a lot more expensive.

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[Jeremy_W]

If this is a sail that you will have to unhank and fold into a sailbag, then definitely forget laminates. They are just so unforgiving and awkward to fold.

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[qsiv]

Our Kevlar Tapedrives look almost as good as the day they were bought (5 years ago), and certainly the shape hasnt changed since the day they were fitted. The Leech and foot lines are still left as loose as the day they were fitted (except when the main is deep reefed and the kicker is eased, when the leech line needs a few pounds on it). We've been through winds of up to 45/50 knots, and the stability of shape is really good. The lighter weight must also improve seakeeping.

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[bedouin]

Yes - I'm told they have excellent shape stability. What the makers warn about though is that the lamination eventually breaks down, in which case there is no practical way of repairing them.

The one's I've spoken to reckon about 5 years for a CruiserLam type construction - which of course is somewhat cheaper than a tapedrive.

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[jimi]

The info I go was that a cruiser laminate would be good for about 5 years, but hold it shape for that period whereas "normal" sailcloth would be good as a white triangle for 10 years but the sail shape progressively deteriorates from day 1 of use.

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